Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Curbing Gun Violence

This opening segment to the NEW Mancow Show on the Fox News network features a spirited debate regarding the escalating gun violence in Chicago and around the country, hosted by Radio Talk show host, Mancow. One of the ladies in the video claims that there is not a cause and effect between the cities run by Democrats which have strict gun laws but have an unbelievable amount of violence occurring in those cities. While she dismisses the evidence that these cities which have strict gun laws don't keep criminals from finding and owning guns, but in fact keeps guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens, thus preventing law-abiding citizens from stopping a gunman and saving lives I have a question: why haven't we seen a significant uptick in gunmen walking around committing shooting sprees in those cities where gun laws are more lax? How would our Founders respond to the escalation in violence? Chuck Norris says:

George Washington warned us in his presidential Farewell Address about a time in America’s future where we might be tempted to discard the pillars of civility: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

Continued...

Curbing violent crimes is still more about what we do rather than government does. The answer is still more about nature’s law within us rather than man’s law outside of us.
We must return to a nation where mutual respect is king – where I am my brother’s keeper and we agree to disagree agreeably. It’s time to renew our commitment to the basic premises of humanity: Do unto others as you would have them do to you, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

In today’s world, each American must also be vigilant against crime. We must have zero tolerance for our volatility to violence. We must come together as community leaders to brainstorm solutions rather than expect our politicians in Washington, D.C., to come up with the answers. We must be equally willing to reach out to those lost souls who feel marginalized and disenfranchised by the world around them. We must also reconsider the power of our own models on our families, and that our children will likely model our treatment of others.
Beyond enhancing these internal and inherent qualities, we need to come together as individuals, families, community groups, schools, churches and local law enforcement to strategize and communicate, educate community residents about victims’ rights, enhance public awareness about what we all can do to increase our survival in the midst of fatal crimes, make plans to offer victims assistance (via intervention, food closets, temporary shelter, mental health counseling, legal help and other emergency services), track violent offenders, further crack down on children and family violence violations, ensure additional necessary securities and network through the Internet with other help agencies.

Two other warriors who are raising the bar of societal and youth decency are our dear friends, Darrell and Sandy Scott, who spearhead Rachel’s Challenge in memory of their beautiful and kind daughter, Rachel, who was murdered at Columbine High School more than a decade ago. Rachel said, “I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same.” KickStartKids and Rachel’s Challenge have recently partnered to further help American youth and families.

Lastly, regarding the victims of the Aurora shooting, let us remember there is a promise in the Bible, “What others mean for harm, God will turn around and use for the good.” It also says, “God is near to the brokenhearted.”

May God’s nearness be a comfort to the Colorado victims and their families.

Question: Do criminals or those intent on committing a crime follow the law? Since they're called criminals probably not. So if they aren't going to follow the law how are gun laws going to affect criminals? Massachusetts has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation yet those laws haven't prevented the stockpiling of weapons. Jim Wallace of the Gun Owners' Action League:

"adds that since the state enacted tougher gun laws in 1998, gun ownership has fallen by 85 percent. Yet gun crimes have increased dramatically. And about once a year, someone is arrested with a stockpile of illegal weapons in Massachusetts."

In the wake of the Aurora shooting, I presented gun-grabbing liberals with the facts from FBI crime statistics that showed Massachusetts has more gun violence than gun-happy Colorado. It didn't matter to any of them. Mass had stricter gun laws, therefore they were better.

And the stupid comment by Ducky just reinforces how brain-diseased the left is.

The issue is the presence of so many weapons in a country with structural issues.Now in your mind it will all works itself out by everyone owning more guns. Absolutely asinine and so stupid you really should cut the brain diseased meme.

At the risk of restating the obvious, I spent my entire career in the Detroit area, with some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. Of course, for most of that time we earned the title of "Murder Capital" of the nation, much of it through gun violence. Now that title is being wrested away by Washington DC and Chicago, also with unbelievably tough gun laws. Until we stop our denial and recognize that gun crime is the product of an underculture of violence in our inner-cities, we are doomed to have it continue.

I'm not saying there shouldn't be sensible, traditional regulation; only that we are squandering our opportunity to improve America by wasting our time chasing the wrong culprit--lawful gun ownership.

About Me

I am a married, Catholic,Conservative woman who has studied sociology and theology in college, loves everything related to politics, and who is also trying to return to college to finish my bachelors degree in journalism and sociology.